It could look like a track meet Friday night as Norphlet travels to Yell County to face Danville in the second round of the Class AA state football playoffs.

Both the Leopards (7-3-1, 4-2 7AA East) and the Little Johns (8-3, 4-1 5AA) boast plenty of speed, and both are coming off decisive wins. Norphlet pounded Magazine 54-0 last week, while Danville overcame its own mistakes to polish off Clarendon 32-7.

"I think Danville is an awfully good football team. They have speed at the skill positions and a good offensive line," Norphlet coach Dennis Steele. "Defensively, they fly to the football and can force teams into some bad situations. It is going to be tough for us to travel 5 hours and get the win, but we are going to do our best."

With the exceptions of turnovers, the Little Johns are coming off one of the better offensive games of the season, according to Danville coach D.J. Crane. Danville moved the ball with ease against the Lions but also turned it over six times.

"We had 508 yards of total offense last week against Clarendon, but we also had six turnovers," Crane said. "We were lucky to win that game. You can't have six turnovers and expect to win. We have got to protect the football better than we did last week."

Injuries at this point in the season could spell disaster for any team but Steele and Crane are fortunate to have kids coming back from injuries and not missing time because of them.

"We are pretty healthy for this point in the season," Steele said. "We have two kids, Tim Taylor and Dustin Goodwin, who are questionable for Friday night's game. But if they can go, we will get them in there, even if it is in a limited role."

Crane is happy his team is getting healthy at this point in the season and looks forward to staying that way.

"We are getting healed up. T.J. May is getting back from an ankle injury and had a really good defensive game against Clarendon," Crane said. "It is nice to say that your team is 100 percent this time of year. That is a luxury few teams in the state have."

Steele is pleased with the energy and excitement exhibited at Leopard practices this week. One reason for this excitement is the recent success of the program.

"The win against Magazine last week was the first playoff win this program has had since 1976," Steele said. "That is a span of 30 years, so the kids and the community are all real excited. All the excitement has been good for practice. We don't have any kids dragging around - they run from drill to drill."

In rural Yell County, Crane is happy buck fever has not plagued his team just yet.

"I expected with deer season starting that we would lose some of our focus (in practice)," he said. "But for the most part it has been a really good week. The kids are really focused. They have their ears open and are ready to learn and prepare for the game. I can't say enough about their dedication."

Steele has a basic philosophy on high school football, one he believes will hold true for Friday night's game.

"My philosophy is the team that makes the fewest mistakes is the team that will win," he said. "That is especially true at this point in the season where every team is good or they wouldn't be here."

As for Crane, he just hopes his players got all their mistakes out of the way last week.

"If we play offense like we did last week and eliminate the turnovers, then I really do like our chances," he said. "If we turn the ball over six times though, Norphlet has the speed and quickness to turn it into six points.

"We also need to have a good defensive game. I feel like we matchup well against them, we just have to continue to do what we do best."